The Match Factory Appoints New Acquisition and Development Team (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Cologne-based sales company The Match Factory has expanded and restructured its acquisition and development team. Former head of sales, Thania Dimitrakopoulou, has been promoted to vice president of acquisitions and sales. Claudia Solano comes on board as senior manager of acquisitions, and Cécile Tollu-Polonowski, a long-time partner with the company, has been appointed as head of development. Dimitrakopoulou, who joined The Match Factory in 2007, will now be heading up all acquisitions activities and manage the sales team, reporting to Michael Weber, managing director.

Solano joins The Match Factory from the distributor Koch Media in Italy where she worked as sales and acquisitions manager. Solano has held various positions in acquisitions in companies such as Videa and Good Films. During her career, she has introduced several high profile directors to the Italian market, including Xavier Dolan and Yorgos Lanthimos.

The Match Factory has appointed long-standing partner Tollu-Polonowski to lead the development team for the company. She will also report to Weber. Tollu-Polonowski previously worked as executive producer for Match Factory Productions for films by Alice Rohrwacher, Karim Aïnouz and Pietro Marcello. Tollu-Polonowski is a member of the editorial team of the German magazine Revolver, Zeitschrift für Film, and program advisor for the International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg. The Match Factory has four films in competition at the Berlin Film Festival: “Afire” by Christian Petzold, “Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything” by Emily Atef, “Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert” by Margarethe von Trotta, and “Till the End of the Night” by Christopher